Search - The Commoner

This book was really a very well-written, beautiful story from beginning to end. There was a point at which I caught myself frustrated with Haruko for not saying this or not saying that. Yet in the context of her culture and the times, it's entirely understandable. The author created very rich characters in very few words. We know a lot about them and yet so little really.
There was a time in the story when it did a time "jump." While I wonder what happened during those years,and a part of me would have liked more of that, I do think it may have gotten tedious had it been there. So I'm a bit mixed on whether I liked the flow of the book which is the only thing that prevents this from being a 5 for me.
This is not a book that will "tug" on yur emotions but it may settle or unsettle you softly. I can't help but wonder how a female author may have written this. Would it have had a different voice? A different emphasis? I don't know. The author does a beautiful presentation of the female voices in the story without judgment. All of the characters (save perhaps 1) are presented without judgment though and the outcome is really just a very beautiful story. I think by wanting more, I probably got just enough.

Sorry, I found the writing style to be too simplistic.

This is a fascinating look into the life of Haruko, who marries the Crown Prince of Japan and suffers the consequences of living in a world "constituted entirely of surface" where the "soul is put on a hard diet." The requirements of this world eventually erode the person she was and could have been; she is harshly judged and has no preparation for a life with such strictures. In middle age, she eventually convinces a wary woman to marry her son and live the same life that she had lived. The prose is somewhat flowery, but the storyline is well developed and flows easily. It is probably reminescent of biographies about Princess Diana and the very steep learning curve of someone new to royalty.